A number of small objects used in everyday life can serve as a transport mechanism for disease causing microorganisms. Objects that are handled or breathed-on by different people, or come in contact with surfaces contaminated by other people or animals, can themselves become contaminated. If these objects then contact a person""s mouth, nose, eyes, other body orifice, or area of damaged skin, they can transmit diseases to the person or cause infection.
This contamination problem is particularly acute with objects used by infants, as they have a propensity to place small objects in their mouth, or touch larger ones with their mouth. Some devices used by infants are designed to be placed in the infant""s mouth, such as bottle nipples, pacifiers, teething rings, etc. As these devices are often dropped by the infant onto contaminated surfaces, such as the floor, it is desirable to have a quick and easy method to sterilize them before returning them to the infant. A traditional approach to sterilizing such objects was to place them in boiling water.
Other objects used by both adults and children, such as toothbrushes, contact lens, combs, hairbrushes, eating and drinking utensils, medical and dental devices, etc., also may need to be sterilized in order to reduce the possibility of disease or infection from the use of such objects.
One approach to sterilizing objects is to expose the object to continuous stream of ultraviolet (UV) light produced by a sterilizing lamp. Systems that implemented this approach typically required some source of external power, such as a connection to a wall socket, to drive the lamp for long periods of time. This required connection typically made these systems non-portable. In addition, if such systems are used near a sink (for instance, for sterilizing a toothbrush), electrical shock or electrocution is possible.
Various embodiments of the present invention are directed to methods and apparatus for sterilizing small objects. The methods and apparatus utilize a flash of ultraviolet light from an ultraviolet light source to sterilize the small object. In some embodiments, a portion of the small object serves to disable a lockout device and enable a sterilizer to operate.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a portable sterilizer for sterilizing a small object is disclosed. The portable sterilizer of this embodiment includes a housing having walls defining a chamber within the housing for receiving a portion of the small object. The portable sterilizer also includes an ultraviolet light source disposed within the housing so that ultraviolet light emitted from the ultraviolet light source may enter the chamber. In addition, this embodiment includes a battery receiver configured to receive a at least one battery and control electronics connected between the battery receiver and the ultraviolet light source that is configured to deliver at least one energy pulse to the ultraviolet light source so that the ultraviolet light source produces a flash of ultraviolet light. The portable sterilizer of this embodiment also includes a lockout device that disables operation of the sterilizer unless the portion of the small object has been placed within the chamber.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a small object for use with a portable sterilizer is disclosed. The small object of this embodiment includes a first end to be inserted into a portable sterilizer and a mating feature configured to disable a lockout device of a portable sterilizer.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a method of sterilizing a small object is disclosed. The method of this embodiment includes a step of placing at least a portion of the object in a sterilizer such that a lockout device of the sterilizer is disabled. The method of this embodiment also includes exposing the portion of the small object in the sterilizer to a flash of ultraviolet light.